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Coronado Expedition Chain Mail and Bethany College Museum History
~ An account from Dr. Leon Lungstrom's book
Coronado Expedition Chain Mail and Bethany College Museum History
~ An account from Dr. Leon Lungstrom's book
An article that was from the August 10, 1989, Lindsborg News-Record by 1967 Bethany College graduate Matt (Kermit) Moline that Dr. Lungstrom included in his exceptional compilation for his 1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas," found on pages 36 and 37 is here, titled:
CHAIN MAIL TURNS UP IN KANSAS HISTORICAL MUSEUM
"The director of Lindsborg Old Mill Museum, Dorman Leman, got a real surprise one day last August when he and his wife visited the new Kansas Museum of History in Topeka for the first time.
"Lehman could hardly believe what he saw in one of the exhibits "a fragment of metal armor -- perhaps once worn by a 16th century Spanish explorer -- that had vanished mysteriously shortly after having been unearthed near Lindsborg more than 100 years ago.
"I guess 'flabbergasted' would be too strong a word, but you can imagine our surprise in seeing it on exhibit in the museum," Lehman said last month.
"Until Lehman walked into the Topeka museum that day, he did not know that the artifact, which may have been stolen from the Bethany College Museum collection in Lindsborg, had reappeared in the late 1960s amidst puzzling circumstances at an antique dealers shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lehman also did not know how the scrap of armor--known as chain mail--found its way from Albuquerque back to Kansas.
"Even now, with the relic back on public display, neither Lehman nor archaeologists at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka can explain fully the objects reappearance. And probably no one yet knows the complete story surrounding the loss the historic fragment, which, when excavated on the site of an old Indian village near Lindsborg, provided one of the earliest clues that parts of Kansas were explored by Spanish conquistadors more than 400 years ago, and that the fabled "Land of Quivira" described by Coronado in 1541 at the northern end of his journey probably was located in Rice and McPherson counties.
"Coronado was the first European to visit Kansas when he arrived in July, at 1541, and several of his cavalry of 30 men probably were equipped with protective chain mail garments, such as vests, tunics and gloves, made from a fabric of interlaced metal links. During the next 60 years, two other Spanish expeditions arrived in central Kansas, and historical documents suggests that men from these parties were also armed with chain mail.
"The Lindsborg chain mail fragment, barely 2 inches square, and the first such artifact to be found in the area, was found sometime during the years 1881-1888 by an associate of Dr. J. A. Udden's, a Bethany College faculty member, in a trash pit at a former Wichita Indian village 5 miles southwest of Lindsborg. Udden describe the find in a book he wrote in 1900, which also contains a photograph of the scrap of chain mail. "Dr. Udden book mentions collecting this item, " Lehman said, "but he only indicates that it was lost sometime before 1900." [Dr. Udden was the founder and first curator of the Bethany College Museum, the collections of which were donated to the Mr. Lehman's McPherson County Old Mill Museum.]
"Udden's relic came to light again only in December 1971 when an Albuquerque antique dealer, Julius S. Feinberg, offered to sell the antiquity to the state historical society. At that time Feinberg said he had purchased the relic "a few years ago" from an unnamed western Kansas attorney. "I have no interest in keeping this relic and have decided to sell it," Fienberg wrote.
"Fienberg identified the lawyer only as "An attorney in Grinnell, Kansas," but Feinberg, who's shop is no longer in business, new that the object might be "the possible Udden specimen." He said he paid $122.50 for the relic "in cash, and all I want is my money back."
"The Historical Society quickly purchased the piece, and Thomas A Witty, the Society's chief archaeologist, then had the fragment verified by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., where senior archaeologist Waldo R. Wedel eventually authenticated the piece as the Udden specimen. Witty said last week that he learned sometime later that Feinberg had tried to sell the relic through another source to the Smithsonian, but that the Kansas society had "scooped the Smithsonian by only one day."
"Although Udden's chain mail fragment was the first to be found in central Kansas, it has not been the last. Since the 1880s more than a dozen other pieces have been unearthed at sites scattered throughout the two counties, including two fragments each measuring 7 x 10 inches dug up in 1974 by two amateur pothunters near Cow Creek in Rice County. The Udden artifact remains "one of a kind, unlike any other piece found." Witty says due to the unique weave of its metal links.
"Local historians in Rice County have long believed that the chain mail fragments that continue to show up in the area were left behind by Coronado, who came to Kansas in search of another gold-rich Peruvian empire. "Coronado's men found they didn't need it (chain mail) here since they were on friendly terms with the Indians," said Horace Jones, of Lyons, in 1974. "The assumption is that instead of lugging it back to Mexico, they left it with the Indians."
"The other Spanish expeditions likely came through central Kansas after Coronado -- in 1594 and 1601 -- and the expedition of 1594, led by two men, Humana and Bonilla, met a catastrophic end on the plains: both were killed along with the rest of the expeditionary party, quite possibly by Quivirans. Witty believes that the Humana expedition offers a more plausible explanation for the presence of chain mail in Rice and McPherson counties. "These explorers were massacred by Indians" he said. "Of course all their belongings -- including chain mail -- would have been left here."
"Juan de Onate, who in 1601 led a third Spanish expedition to the area, had to leave suddenly when a massed group of enraged Quivirans threatened to attack his forces. Expecting an attack, Onate's men probably armed themselves with every article of chain mail that they could find, even as they fled Quivira.
"As for explanations relating to the disappearance of the chain mail, Lehman has offered several theories popular in Lindsborg. "Some people believe Dr. Udden had it in his home where his housekeeper, not knowing its value, used it as a pot scrubber, wore it out and threw it away." Another speculation, Lehman says, is that "it was thrown away in an outdoor toilet resulting in the unsuccessful excavation of quite a number of toilets."
"Randy Theis, an archeology staff member with the State Historical Society, questions the believability of theories such as these. "For instance, how could Udden allow to go unnoticed his own maid using the relic as a scouring pad?" he asked.
"In Lehman's mind, a strong possibility is that the piece found its way into the Bethany Museum collection for a time, and then was stolen. "We had believed it had been stolen for many years." he said. Bethany transferred its museum collection to the Old Mill Museum in 1968. [1966 is the correct year.]
"One story that circulates freely in Lindsborg, according to Lehman, is that the object "was stolen in the Bethany Museum by someone in Lyons (in Rice County, adjoining McPherson County) to discredit the possibility that Coronado might have come as far east as Lindsborg."
"Over the last forty years, historians and archologists have increasingly demonstrated that Quivira, whose inhabitants were Wichita Indians living in their distinctive grass-thatched pole dwellings, were centered in Rice and McPherson counties. And since 1940, archeologists from both the State Historical Society and the Smithsonian have concentrated their excavations of Quiviran villages almost exclusively to those in Rice County, a fact that peeves McPherson Countians: Professional archeologists now estimate that as many as 120,000 Quiviran Indians were living at some 35 known sites in the two countries at the time of Coronado's visit, and that Quivira may have existed for well over 200 years.
"Last December Lehman briefly considered challenging the state historical society's claim to the Udden chain mail now on display in Topeka. He told Kansas Museum Director Mark Hunt: "We feel that this item would greatly add to the related exhibits here at the "Old Mill Museum." But last spring Lehman said that arguing for control of "one artifact is not worth the loss of goodwill." "They (the State Historical Society) purchased it in good faith. They have a bill of sale and that's as good as anything."
"Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the relic and Julius Feinberg's antique shop remains unsolved. There is no telephone listing in Albuquerque for either Feinberg's residence, or his shop. As of last week, none of the four Feinberg families who are currently living in Albuquerque knew anything about Julius Feinberg. As for the Grinnell, Kansas lawyer who apparently sold the relic to Feinberg, The Wichita Eagle reported in 1974 only that the man in question was no longer living.
"Historians point out that 1990 will mark the 450th anniversary of the launching of Coronado's expedition. He was the first European to explore America's central plains, more than 60 years before the English established permanent settlements on the east coast.
"Lehman could hardly believe what he saw in one of the exhibits "a fragment of metal armor -- perhaps once worn by a 16th century Spanish explorer -- that had vanished mysteriously shortly after having been unearthed near Lindsborg more than 100 years ago.
"I guess 'flabbergasted' would be too strong a word, but you can imagine our surprise in seeing it on exhibit in the museum," Lehman said last month.
"Until Lehman walked into the Topeka museum that day, he did not know that the artifact, which may have been stolen from the Bethany College Museum collection in Lindsborg, had reappeared in the late 1960s amidst puzzling circumstances at an antique dealers shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lehman also did not know how the scrap of armor--known as chain mail--found its way from Albuquerque back to Kansas.
"Even now, with the relic back on public display, neither Lehman nor archaeologists at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka can explain fully the objects reappearance. And probably no one yet knows the complete story surrounding the loss the historic fragment, which, when excavated on the site of an old Indian village near Lindsborg, provided one of the earliest clues that parts of Kansas were explored by Spanish conquistadors more than 400 years ago, and that the fabled "Land of Quivira" described by Coronado in 1541 at the northern end of his journey probably was located in Rice and McPherson counties.
"Coronado was the first European to visit Kansas when he arrived in July, at 1541, and several of his cavalry of 30 men probably were equipped with protective chain mail garments, such as vests, tunics and gloves, made from a fabric of interlaced metal links. During the next 60 years, two other Spanish expeditions arrived in central Kansas, and historical documents suggests that men from these parties were also armed with chain mail.
"The Lindsborg chain mail fragment, barely 2 inches square, and the first such artifact to be found in the area, was found sometime during the years 1881-1888 by an associate of Dr. J. A. Udden's, a Bethany College faculty member, in a trash pit at a former Wichita Indian village 5 miles southwest of Lindsborg. Udden describe the find in a book he wrote in 1900, which also contains a photograph of the scrap of chain mail. "Dr. Udden book mentions collecting this item, " Lehman said, "but he only indicates that it was lost sometime before 1900." [Dr. Udden was the founder and first curator of the Bethany College Museum, the collections of which were donated to the Mr. Lehman's McPherson County Old Mill Museum.]
"Udden's relic came to light again only in December 1971 when an Albuquerque antique dealer, Julius S. Feinberg, offered to sell the antiquity to the state historical society. At that time Feinberg said he had purchased the relic "a few years ago" from an unnamed western Kansas attorney. "I have no interest in keeping this relic and have decided to sell it," Fienberg wrote.
"Fienberg identified the lawyer only as "An attorney in Grinnell, Kansas," but Feinberg, who's shop is no longer in business, new that the object might be "the possible Udden specimen." He said he paid $122.50 for the relic "in cash, and all I want is my money back."
"The Historical Society quickly purchased the piece, and Thomas A Witty, the Society's chief archaeologist, then had the fragment verified by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., where senior archaeologist Waldo R. Wedel eventually authenticated the piece as the Udden specimen. Witty said last week that he learned sometime later that Feinberg had tried to sell the relic through another source to the Smithsonian, but that the Kansas society had "scooped the Smithsonian by only one day."
"Although Udden's chain mail fragment was the first to be found in central Kansas, it has not been the last. Since the 1880s more than a dozen other pieces have been unearthed at sites scattered throughout the two counties, including two fragments each measuring 7 x 10 inches dug up in 1974 by two amateur pothunters near Cow Creek in Rice County. The Udden artifact remains "one of a kind, unlike any other piece found." Witty says due to the unique weave of its metal links.
"Local historians in Rice County have long believed that the chain mail fragments that continue to show up in the area were left behind by Coronado, who came to Kansas in search of another gold-rich Peruvian empire. "Coronado's men found they didn't need it (chain mail) here since they were on friendly terms with the Indians," said Horace Jones, of Lyons, in 1974. "The assumption is that instead of lugging it back to Mexico, they left it with the Indians."
"The other Spanish expeditions likely came through central Kansas after Coronado -- in 1594 and 1601 -- and the expedition of 1594, led by two men, Humana and Bonilla, met a catastrophic end on the plains: both were killed along with the rest of the expeditionary party, quite possibly by Quivirans. Witty believes that the Humana expedition offers a more plausible explanation for the presence of chain mail in Rice and McPherson counties. "These explorers were massacred by Indians" he said. "Of course all their belongings -- including chain mail -- would have been left here."
"Juan de Onate, who in 1601 led a third Spanish expedition to the area, had to leave suddenly when a massed group of enraged Quivirans threatened to attack his forces. Expecting an attack, Onate's men probably armed themselves with every article of chain mail that they could find, even as they fled Quivira.
"As for explanations relating to the disappearance of the chain mail, Lehman has offered several theories popular in Lindsborg. "Some people believe Dr. Udden had it in his home where his housekeeper, not knowing its value, used it as a pot scrubber, wore it out and threw it away." Another speculation, Lehman says, is that "it was thrown away in an outdoor toilet resulting in the unsuccessful excavation of quite a number of toilets."
"Randy Theis, an archeology staff member with the State Historical Society, questions the believability of theories such as these. "For instance, how could Udden allow to go unnoticed his own maid using the relic as a scouring pad?" he asked.
"In Lehman's mind, a strong possibility is that the piece found its way into the Bethany Museum collection for a time, and then was stolen. "We had believed it had been stolen for many years." he said. Bethany transferred its museum collection to the Old Mill Museum in 1968. [1966 is the correct year.]
"One story that circulates freely in Lindsborg, according to Lehman, is that the object "was stolen in the Bethany Museum by someone in Lyons (in Rice County, adjoining McPherson County) to discredit the possibility that Coronado might have come as far east as Lindsborg."
"Over the last forty years, historians and archologists have increasingly demonstrated that Quivira, whose inhabitants were Wichita Indians living in their distinctive grass-thatched pole dwellings, were centered in Rice and McPherson counties. And since 1940, archeologists from both the State Historical Society and the Smithsonian have concentrated their excavations of Quiviran villages almost exclusively to those in Rice County, a fact that peeves McPherson Countians: Professional archeologists now estimate that as many as 120,000 Quiviran Indians were living at some 35 known sites in the two countries at the time of Coronado's visit, and that Quivira may have existed for well over 200 years.
"Last December Lehman briefly considered challenging the state historical society's claim to the Udden chain mail now on display in Topeka. He told Kansas Museum Director Mark Hunt: "We feel that this item would greatly add to the related exhibits here at the "Old Mill Museum." But last spring Lehman said that arguing for control of "one artifact is not worth the loss of goodwill." "They (the State Historical Society) purchased it in good faith. They have a bill of sale and that's as good as anything."
"Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the relic and Julius Feinberg's antique shop remains unsolved. There is no telephone listing in Albuquerque for either Feinberg's residence, or his shop. As of last week, none of the four Feinberg families who are currently living in Albuquerque knew anything about Julius Feinberg. As for the Grinnell, Kansas lawyer who apparently sold the relic to Feinberg, The Wichita Eagle reported in 1974 only that the man in question was no longer living.
"Historians point out that 1990 will mark the 450th anniversary of the launching of Coronado's expedition. He was the first European to explore America's central plains, more than 60 years before the English established permanent settlements on the east coast.
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"Let Us Remember Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated, or obviously concluded it is not.
Copyright © 2022 www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
"Let Us Remember Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated, or obviously concluded it is not.
Copyright © 2022 www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
